Blackbird, TownNews Expand to 75 News Stations in U.S.

Blackbird is now being used by a total of 75 US TV stations for digital news production following TownNews’ latest deployment. This is the sixth expansion of Blackbird by TownNews since the partnership began in 2018.

Production teams at the 75 US TV stations use Blackbird remotely to rapidly access, edit and publish news content fast to social and web platforms. When paired with TownNews’ Field59 VMS, the latest news stories can be delivered to viewers with unbeatable speed and control using Blackbird’s browser-based, easy-to-use and carbon efficient cloud native video editing platform. US TV stations using Blackbird span 35 states.

“The team at Blackbird has been a tremendous partner with us in providing the digital video workflow tools we know our broadcast television customers value and expect,” says Derek Gebler, Vice President of Broadcast and Video for TownNews. “I look forward to our continued collaboration.”

Over 350 local TV stations in the US produce approximately six hours of news content per day with the industry generating nearly $31 billion in revenues annually. With an estimated 43% of US adults sourcing their news from websites and social media, millions of viewers in the US now consume content through the Blackbird and TownNews’ Field59 VMS platform.

“Blackbird and TownNews have really built an incredible partnership which continues to expand at pace,” says Blackbird CEO, Ian McDonough. “We started in 2018 with two stations and now have 75. It’s an excellent combined solution and demonstrates perfectly how two companies can work together for the customer’s benefit.”